The present invention is directed to a boom arm support clamp, specifically novel clamp design for securely holding a boom arm, as a microphone or similar structure to be positioned and resist cantilever forces.
Boom arms that support lights, microphones or similar devices often experience significant forces, especially when supporting devices at the end of relatively long boom arms. Such forces can cause clamps and other holding mechanisms to slip or fail under the load.
Prior art clamp devices either rely on friction clamps or meshed gear-like teeth. The problem with friction clamps is that the same can fail—either under sufficient weight or over time as the friction surfaces slowly slide relative to each other. The problem with meshed gear-like teeth, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is that the gear-like teeth restrict the boom arm clamp to precise positions for placement around a rotational axis. If the gear-like teeth do not fully engage when securing the clamp, the teeth may slip and result in unintended loosening of the clamp. The spatial difference in the positioning of such teeth can be made very fine, but at the time and expense of manufacturing gear-like teeth with very fine spacing.
Accordingly, there is a need for a boom arm clamp that provides a reliably secure clamping mechanism without restrictions on rotational positioning around an axis. The present invention fulfills those needs and provides other related advantages.